Other than sustainable mobility to reduce emissions: compared to pre-pandemic levels, Italians have increased the volume of their car trips by 60%.. The data is contained in a research conducted by Aniasa, the association of mobility services of Confindustria, and by Bain & Company.
The study also shows that the personal car is the means of transport used most often (in 69% of cases last year, in 73% this year); moreover, the propensity to use the car sharing (-54% in 2020, -16% in 2021, +2% in 2022) and electric scooters (-8% in 2021, +5% in 2022).
At the basis of this newfound mobility there is also the return to workplaces: if in 2019 we worked remotely on average only 0,8 days a week, with the pandemic the figure soared to 2,6 in 2020, before falling back to 2,1 in 2021 and 1,4 days this year .
The crisis in the car market
However, just as car use increases so significantly, the economic hardships always produced by Covid and now aggravated by the war in Ukraine have almost eliminated the purchase of new vehicles. The automotive market is grappling with the worst crisis since the 2021s: in 1,5 registrations fell below XNUMX million units, while 2022 marks a contraction of 27% year to date.
The Italian fleet is getting older and older
Italy has one of the highest motorization indexes in the world, with around 1,5 cars per household. However, the average age of vehicles on the road continues to rise: if it was 2000 years in 8,5, today it is 11,5.
Full electric cars grow, but remain for a few
The growth of electric mobility, which is very slow and far from homogeneous, is not enough to compensate for this phenomenon. Consumers, according to the study by Aniasa and Bain, have not yet embraced the new mobility trends, which are struggling to establish themselves. The full electric car (BEV) have seen their market share increase in 2021, while still remaining concentrated in the big cities of the North (5,3% stake) and in company fleets.
Consumers prefer mild hybrids, which however do not reduce emissions
“The correlation between regional per capita income and BEV penetration is evident – continues the study – All in all, this segment is still not very relevant, with a weight of around 4% of the total in 2021 and a drop to 3,3% in the first quarter of 2022 (halved in the private channel, down to 1,8%). Consumers rather prefer buying cars mild hybrid, which, however, do not seem to have significant effects on overall emissions”.
The risk of a "mobility divide"
Furthermore, in the electric car market, the share of SUVs has grown up to 51%, causing list prices to increase. "If the reduction estimates of the minor segments were to materialize (segment A from 18% to 6% of the total market), a concrete risk of "mobility divides” between those who will be able to afford cars with new engines (SUVs and large cars) and those who will not be able to do so and will have to resort to Local Public Transport, the real absentee in the public debate”, concludes the study.
